The present disclosure relates generally to communications networks, and more particularly, to protecting network flows during network congestion.
In a communications network, many different flows pass through links. Due to changes in traffic, topology changes, or failures within the network, for example, a link may become congested. Flows sharing a congested link can become affected and suffer possibly severe QoS (Quality of Service) degradation. In the presence of congestion, it is often necessary to drop at least a portion of packets entering the congested link or introduce queuing delays.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.